Rio Olympics 2016: 5 high profile Indian names missing

Some of the big names from previous Olympics won't be going to Rio this summer.

Parupalli Kashyap won’t be in action at the Olympics, this time around

The Indian Olympic Association will be sending its biggest contingent ever for the Rio Olympics 2016. Around 100 athletes, 13 more than the previous record of 87 athletes in the 2012 Olympics will be participating in various events on the grandest stage of them all to give their best in their game and hope for a podium finish, and their main aim would be to put up a good show and make the country proud by winning medals in their respective sport.

While some athletes like Dutee Chand would be participating in the Olympics for the first time in events like 100m sprint, an event in which no Indian has qualified for the finals before, there would be quite a few high profile athletes from London Olympics 2012 who will be missed in the Rio Olympics 2016. Let us now take a look at 5 such athletes who represented India in the previous edition of the Olympics, but failed to qualify this time-

#5 Parupalli Kashyap, Badminton

Parupalli Kashyap created history in London 2012 by reaching the quarter-finals of the men’s singles badminton competition, a feat not achieved by any Indian male badminton player so far in Olympics. He also made the country proud by clinching the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He had won the bronze medal in the previous edition of the Commonwealth Games.

However, his dreams of participating in the Rio Olympics came crashing down as he suffered a medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury. A top 16 finish in May would have ensured his qualification for the Olympics second time in a row, but he couldn’t recover in time to improve his world ranking of 17. He will be missed in Rio, as he was one of the frontrunners for a medal at the Olympics for India.